Soot disposal



Jan. 24, 1933. w. w. OAKLEY SOOT DISPOSAL Filed Sept. 17, 1927 3Sheets-Sheet QQN N@ N QQN NW N INVENTOR Wei/fer 0 BY k/gm ATTORNEY Jan.24, 1933. I w, w, OAKLEY 1,894,961

SOOT DISPOSAL Filed Sept. 17, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY d/ferOak/9',

ATTORNEY.

Jan. 24, 1933.

w. w. OAKLEY SOOT DISPOSAL 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 17, 1927lIIIIIIIIIIIYIIIIIIIIIIIIII/fl! Patented Jan. 24, 1933 ETED STATESWALTER W. OAKLEY, OF COR-MING, NEW YORK SOOT DISPOSAL Application filedSeptember 17, 1927. Serial No. 220,229.

This invention relates to the art of fuel burners and more specificallyto a method of and apparatus for removing deposits of soot, particularlyfrom gas producer lines and boiler tubes.

It has heretofore been customary to remove accumulations of soot byraking out or blowing out with steam, but both of these methods areobjectionable, since raking out is difficult and expensive and stillleaves the ultimate disposal of the soot to be provided for, and

blowing outwith steam discharges the soot into the atmosphere unburnedwith a consequent pollution of the surrounding territory. 9; By mypresent invention I blow the soot, granular and flaky combustibles, aswell as tarry vapors, into a preheated incinerator and, preferablysimultaneously therewith, introduce into said chamber a proper volume;of air at a predetermined velocity and pressure, cause an intimatemixing of soot and air, and supply sufiicient heat to effect combustionbefore the mixture reaches the top of the stack, and preferably beforeit reaches the -stack.

' It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new andimproved method of soot disposal.

It is another object of this invention to pro,- vide an apparatus forcarrying out this method.

It is also an object of'this invention to perform these operationswithout discharging the soot into theatmosphere unburned and withoutdamaging the gas main.

' It is an additional object of this invention to burn the sootexteriorly of the gas main.

It is another object of my invention to pre- M vent the building up ofexcessive temperatures in the mains which are being cleaned out as aresult of the burning out process. I

it is a specific object of this invention to provide means for effectinga proper mixing w of the soot and air to effect complete combustion.

' Vi ith the above and other objects in view, which will be 'apparentasthe description proceeds, I have set forth my invention in the followingspecification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved. apparatus, with the stack shown insection and with certain parts broken away for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of my apparatus, thesectional partbeing in an improved specific form in Figs. 13, in

which figures certain improvements that are the invention of Royden A.Blunt, Patent Number 1,747,569 granted February 18, 1930 are alsoembodied.

My invention is particularly adapted for theremoval of deposits fromproducer gas mains. In these there is a heavy accumulation of soot,which is of a loose, light and flaky nature, so that it is easily blownout into the atmosphere if any considerable pressure is applied to it.This soot is often accompanied with granular and flaky combustibles, aswell as tarry vapors. This accumulation is so rapid that after operationfor a week the mains are often filled with it a to three-fourths oftheir capacity, thus impairing their effectiveness and making itnecessary to remove this accumulation. I have discovered that this canbe done, with out discharging the soot into the atmosphere, and withoutdamaging the line, by blowing the soot into a preheated incinerator inwhich the soot is mixed with a large volume of air, the temperature ofthe mixture is raised above the ignition temperature, and most of thesoot is burned, any soot not consumed in the incinerator proper beingcompletely burned before it reaches the top of the stack, so it will notbe discharged into the atmos- Dhere unburned.

My invention is also adapted for the removal. in a similar way, ofdeposits of soot, granular and flaky combustibles from boiler tubes.

Referring to the accompanying drawings;

I have illustrated therein the general arrangement of a producer gasmainlO, an incinerator 11 and a stack 12 embodying my invention. I

In the preferred form ofmy invention shown in Figs. 18, which will bedescribed in detail first, the gasmain 10 is connected with theincinerator 11 by a dust leg 13 and an inlet 14, which is shown hereinas being Venturi-shaped, a damper 15 serving to prevent communicationbetween the dust leg and the Venturi inlet when desired, but, when thedamper 15 is opened, any soot that has been collected in the dust leg 13will drop by gravity into the inlet 14. To move this soot into theincinerator 11, there is provided a blast nozzle 16 which projects intothe cons tracted throat 17 of the inlet 14c, the blast nozzle beingsupplied with air by a fan blower 18 whose air intake is controlled by aquick acting flapper or butterfly type of damper 19. The blower 18 maybe of any suitable type, and is operated by a motor 20, preferably ofconstant speed. Although its size will depend on the size of theparticular installation, I have found that a fan blower whichdelivers11,000 cubic feet of air per minute at a pressure of 6 inches of wateris a satisfactory size.

in a bracket 23 which depends from an operating platform to be describedlater, and

thence upwardly through said platform to fore the burning out operationis started, and

ing out operation.

a hand wheel 24. 7

An additional damper 25 is preferably inserted in the blast nozzle 16between its end and the fan blower 18. This is opened beis closed aftersame is finished to preventany appreciable volume of heat or gases frompassing back to the fan blower. This damper does not need to be adjustedduring the burn- The gas main 10, dust-leg 18, and Venturishaped inlet14; may be of any desired construction, such as a sheet steel shell 28,lined with fire brick 29.

The incinerator 11 is a fire proof chamber interposed in the linebetween the main 10 and the stack 12, and may take a'variety of shapes,but is. shown as substantially rectangular in the present embodimentof'my in-v vention, It is preferably built of first grade tire brick 30,that may be surrounded with shell 33. I'find it preferable, however, to

omit the layer of sand grogon the top wall 'of the incinerator andsubstitute a greater thickness of sil-o-cel therefor, and in somelnstances 1t 1s sufficient to increase the thickness of the fire brickwall and omit the sil-ocel, sand grog and steel shell. Theincineracinerator and facilitate their mixture and combustion therein, Iprefer to form a checker wall 37 of any suitable type intermediate ofthe ends of the incinerator. Between wall 37 and the inlet 35 I preferto provide a sec ondary checker wall 38 which, like the wall 37, is ofcommercial heat resisting brick.

Other means, such as a combustion. cone segment 39, may alsoibe used tofacilitate the proper mixture of the incoming soot and air.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, this is a convex cone segment with an apex 40adjacent the inlet openings 35 and a'base 41 formed by the lower part ofthe secondary wall 38. The surface of'cone segment 39 is such that itfacilitates the intimate mixing of the incoming soot and air and gives amaximum sun face combustion.

The incinerator 11is preferably provided with doors 4 1 and 45, theformer in front and the latter behind the checker walls 37 andv into thepipe 14., and thence into the incinerator 11 through the inlet opening35. A valve 51, which cooperates with a valve seat 52. is

interposed in the bypass 50 to control the discharge of the producergas, the valve 51 being attached to the end of a screw threaded shaft 53supported in a bearing bracket 54:, and hav ing an operating handle 55for itsconvenient manipulatlon. t

Inasmuch as the supply of producer gas 18 cut off during the'burning outoperation,

other means for heating the incinerator during this time are necessary,and for this purpose I prefer to use a pair of oil burncrs of any wellknown type, one of which is .mounted on each side of the Venturi inlet14.

As shown in Fig. 1, these burners are preferably mounted. in proximityto openings 01 inthe front wall of the incinerator 11 and are arrangedto direct the flames into the. in

cinerator at opposite an gles. thus facilitating combustion forward ofthe checkerwall 3S and around the combustion'cone. If desired, a largernumber of oil burners may be used. Furthermore the preheating may beeffected by the use of oil burners instead of producer 11 the dust leggas, and in this case one or more of the oil burners will be used topreheat the checker Walls.

As best'shown in Fig. 2, the incinerator 11 is connected with a stack 12through a stack flue 7 0, a stack damper 71 being introduced into thefine 70 to form a cut off therein. This damper may be cooled in anydesired manner, .and this may conveniently be done by water 72, which iscirculated therethrough from inlet and outlet pipes 73 and 7%,respectively. The damper may be mounted and operated in various ways,but is herein shown as being guided by bearing slot 75 in the top of thestack flue 70 and extending tl1erethrough,ter-

minating in an operating head 7 6 to which is attached a cable 7 7 forcontrolling its operation from a distance. Table 77 passes upwardly overa sheave 81 carried in a bracket 82 mounted on top of the incinerator11, thence over a second sheave 83 carried in a bracket 84: on the gasmain 10, and finally around a drum 85 which is rotatably mounted ,..inbearing brackets 86 carried by the dust leg 18. Drum 85 is provided witha worm wheel 87 that cooperates with a worm 88, carried by a bearing 90extending from one of the brackets 86, the worm and worm wheel, Handconsequently the drum 85, being operated by a crank 91, mounted on theend of worm 88.

The stack 12 may be ofany desired type, but is herein shown as beingprovided with a ..base 95 and vertical pipe 96. As shown in "Fig. 1, thevertical pipe 96 consists of a steel shell 97, provided with a firebrick lining 98. and the base 95 is preferably formed of similarmaterials, although the exact construction .of the pipe and base formsno part of the present invention. If desired, the pipe and base may beinsulated in any well known manner. At suitable points in the gas main,as, for .eXample, every few feet, I prefer to arrange steam nozzles orblow pipes 100, which are supplied with steam from pipes 101. Thesenozzles form a tight connection with the gas main by means of sealingplates 102, and are provided with adjusting valves 103 and also withclean out plugs 104 to permit the removal of scale or other stoppagefrom the nozzles. These nozzles may be either portable or stationary.

An operating platform 105, provided with a guard rail 106, may bemounted at any con venient location, as between the dust leg 13 and theincinerator 11, at about the height of the producer gas valve 51. r

A platform 108 gives easy access to the 69 damper 15, and any convenientmeans, such as a ladder 109, may be provided for reaching the platforms108 and 105.

Operation Some time, for example, eighteen hours,

prior to the regular period for cleaning out the gas main, a small fireis kindled in the front end of the incinerator 11 and the water cooleddamper '71, connecting the incinerator 11 to the furnace stack 12, israised slightly. \Vhen the fire is bru-ning briskly, if the preheatingis to be done by the producer gas, the latter is admitted through thegas valve 51, which is opened wide as rapidly as safety permits. In thisway, or by the oil burners 60, the temperature is brought up graduallyto about 2200 to 2 F. lVhen it is desired to start burning out the gasmain 10 the oil burners 60 are used to maintain the temperature of theincinerator, and dampers 107, which are provided between the producerplant and main 10, are closed to prevent communication between theseparts during the burning out. Valve 51 is then closed, damper 71 isopened wide, and damper 15, between the incinerator 11 and the main 10,as well as damper 25, in blast nozzle 16, are opened. This gives adirect connection from the gas main 10 to the furnace stack 12. so thatthe latter will pull all gases out of the gas distributing system assoon as vents are given through doors (not shown) at the far ends of allgas lines, and any carbon soot, fine particles of coke. dust or otherforeign matter must pass through the incinerator before passing out ofthe stack. At this period the incinerator ll would cool off rapidlyexcept for the additional heat supplied by the oil burners 00. The fanblower 18 is now started to supplv the necessary air, and this passedthrough the large Venturi-shaped inlet 14 to the incinerator 11. Thisincreases and assists the stack 12 in maintaining a draft or vacuum uponthe gas main and blows the soot toward the incinerator. The top of thestack 12 is watched closely by the operator, who opens the damper 19 onthe fan blower 18 if the stack smudges, or closes it if the stack runsclear, a very slight smudge being the proper condition wanted. A veryclear stack indicates that excess air is passing through theincinerator, cooling it unduly. With the ap paratus thus adjusted thesoot is moved from the gas main 10 into the dust leg 13 that con-- nectsthe main to the incinerator 11, and this is brought about through thesteam nozzles 100 which admit steam only to the formations of soot lyingin front of them. As the line is under suction. it permissible to open adoor so that a portable blow pipe can be in serted to remove any sootwhich would not readily be reached with stationary nozzles. If the sootis moved through the line at a fairly constant rate. the incinerator canbe set to consume it perfectly, preferably therein, and certainly beforeit emerges from the top of the stack, but if it varies slightl I-theoperator can take care of this by admitting more or less air as the casemay warrant.

\Vhen the clearing out operation is eompleted, or when the main isclean, it is only necessary to shut off the fan and oil burners 60,close dampers and 25, shut off the steam -nozzles 100 and supply the gasmain with producer gas as before. Dampers 19 and 7-1 may be leftslightly open. While the mains are being cleaned out the producer gasis.

shut off from the furnaces and other apparatus which are normally heatedby it, and the oil or gas burners (not shown) with which this apparatusis usually provided are lighted to maintain their temperature.

When no soot is being sent to the incinerator 11, damper 19 must beclosed immediate- 1y to conserve heat. 'Likewise, if for any reason theoperation is held up for a considerable time, for example, more than acouple of minutes, damper 71 should be lowered so as to leave anopening, which is just sufiicient to takecare of the oil fire suppliedby the burners 60. I

If for any reason it 1s not feasible toblow some portlons of the gasmain clean, and they can be dumped, the accumulated soot may be shoveledthrough openings 44 01 46 while the incinerator is still hot, and thesedeposits will be consumed before they reach the top of the stack.

It will be obvious from the above description and statement of operationthat the essential adjustments can all be made from the operatingplatform 105, inasmuch as the controls for the gas valve 51', theflapper damper 19 and the water-cooled stack damper 71 are arrangedhere. By placing the switch for the motor 20 at this point the operationof the fan blower 18 can also be controlled from here.

For the proper operation ofmv method it is essential that there be aproper mixing of the incoming soot and air, so as to produce acombustible mixture. This is partially controlled by the venturi actionof blast nozzle 16 and the contracted throat 17 of the. inlet 14, andpartly by. any suitable mixing means within the incinerator 11. Thelatter may take various forms but, as explained above, is shown hereinas consisting of the checker walls 37 and 38 and the combustion coneseg- 'ment 39. It is also essential that the tempera.

ture in the incinerator 11 be high enough to secure complete combustionof the soot. This is made possible by the preheating of the incinerator.coupled with t e heat supplied to it during the burning out operation.

Without in any way limiting myself thereto, I have found that a suitableincinerator for a plant consuming 300,000 cubic feet of hot producer gasper hour is one having outside dimensions of 14 feet long, 9 feet 9inches wide and 10 feet 10 inches high. I have also found thatpreheating for about 18 hours before the burning out operation is to bestarted, and to a temperature of about2200 tov 24009 F., issatisfactory, in conjunction with the use of oil burners thatmaintainthis temperature in the incinerator during the burning outoperation. Likewise pressures of about 6 inches of water produced by afan delivering about 11,000 cubic feet of air per minute,

are suitable to secure the necessory velocities,

coupled with the stack draft, to induce the requisite vacuum in the gasmain 10'to draw the soot into the incinerator 11 at the proper rate toeffect complete combustion, before it reaches the top of the stack 12and to prevent the pressures from being transmitted back into the gasmain. Using the above temperatures and pressures, I have found itpossible to completely burn out producer gas mains 7 up to-240 feet inlength, and containing approximately 4250 cubic feet of soot, in twohours. 7

Referringnow to the form of myinvention shown in-Figs. 4 and 5, the gasmain 10 is 7 connected with the incinerator 11 by a dust .leg 113 and aninlet 114, a damper 115 being provided to prevent communication betweenthese last mentioned portions when desired.

vWhen the damper 115. is opened, however,

producer gas or soot, if present on, the opposite side of ,thedamper,isfree to pass into.

the inlet 114 and thence into the incinerator 11. To move the sootfrom'the inlet 114 into the incinerator I provide a blast nozzle 116which projects into the inlet-11.4 and is sup plied with air by a fanblower 118 of any suitable size. The as main, dust leg and inlet may beof any esired construction.

The incinerator 11 is a fireproof chamber interposed between the main 10and the stack 12, and may be made of various shapes, but is shown hereinas being substantially rectangular. It is preferably built of fire-brick130 and surrounded with insulating material 131,

such as sil-o-cel, with any suitable covering suitable strengtheningmeans, such as the angle ironsupports 134 may be provided. At

material such as the steel shell 133. Any 7 its end nearest the gasmain, the incinerator has a sootand air inlet 135, and at its end maybedone by producer gas supplied from the gas main 10 through the dust leg113 and inlet 114 when the damper 115 isopened. During the burning-outoperation, however,

To delay the passage of the soot and the su ply of producer gas is cutoil by damper 10 hence other means are necessary in order to heat theincinerator during this time. For this purpose any suitable number ofoil burners 160 of any well known type, two being shown herein, arepreferably mounted in openings 161 in the front wall of the incinerator.These burners direct the flames into the incinerator and facilitatecombustion forward of the checker wall 137. If desired, these oilburners may be used for the preheatmg.

As shown in Fig. 5, the incinerator 11 is connected with the stack 12through a stack The form of my invention illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 isoperated in substantially the same manner as already described for theform shown in Figs. 1-3, except that preheating is done by producer gassupplied through the inlet 11t or by oil burners 160; the operation isnot controlled from a single station; the mixture of soot and air isefiected without the aid of a venturi action, without a com bustioncone-segment and without a second checker wall; and the blower is notprovided with a flapper valve, the proportion of soot and air beingcontrolled in other ways, as by the rate the soot is moved through theline with the aid of the steam nozzles or blow pipes 100.

The invention set forth in the present application, while of generalapplication, is especially adapted for use in plants having old gasmains which would not stand the temperatures developed in them if theburning out actually took place in the mains themselves at the rateindicated above.

It will therefore be apparent that I have invented a new and usefulmethod of eliminating soot from producer gas mains for disposing of it,and a new apparatus for conveniently carrying out said method, withoutburning the soot in the main and without blowing it out into theatmosphere unburned.

While I have herein set forth the preferred embodiment of my inventionand one modification thereof, 1 do not desire to be limited theretoexcept as indicated in the following claims, since it will be obviousthat it may be modified in various ways, such as the use of incineratorsof different shape, other methods of introducing the blowing air, thesubstitution of air for steam to remove the soot from the gas main, andthe use of other methods of promoting an intimate mixture between thesoot and the air prior to combustion. Furthermore, my invention may beused in combination with other methods of soot removal when desired.

No claims are made herein to the specific features shown in Figs. 1-?)which do not appear in Figs. Al and 5, to wit, the special combustioncone segment, the venturi action in connection with the intake of airand soot, the quickacting flapper or butterfly type of damper 19, thewater cooled damper, the centralized control, or the introduction of theproducer gas into the incinerator through a by-pass in the mainpassagebetween the gas main and the incinerator, and the particularvalve mechanism for controlling the introduction of the producer gas,in-

asmuch as these features were not invented by me. i

I claim:

1. Apparatus for removing soot from gas mains and disposing of samewhich includes the combination of a gasmain, an incinerator, aconnection between the "main and the incinerator, means for exl ellingthe soot from the gas main, means for introducing the soot and a largevolume of air into the incinerator, and means for heating theincinerator to promote the combustion of the soot and air.

2. Apparatus for removing soot from gas mains and disposingof same whichincludes the combination of a gas main, an incinerator, a connectionbetween the main and the incinerator, steam nozzles for expelling thesoot from the gas main, a fan blower for introducing the soot and alarge volume of air into the incinerator, and means for heating theincinerator to promote the combustion of thesoot and air.

3. Apparatus for removing soot from gas mains anddisposing of same whichincludes" the combination of a gas main, an incinerator, a connectionbetween the main and the incinerator, means for preheating theincinerator, means for expelling the soot from lllB gas main, means forintroducing the soot and a large volume of air into the incinerator, andother means for heating the incinerator to promote the combustion of thesoot and air.

at. Apparatus for removing soot from gas mains and disposing of samewhich includes the combination of a gas main, an incinerator, aconnection between the main and the incinerator, means for preheatingthe incinerator, steam nozzles for expelling the soot from the gas main,a fan blower for introducing the soot and a large volume of air into theincinerator, and other means for,

heating the incinerator to promote the combustion of the soot and air.

5. In apparatus for removing soot from I gas mains and disposing ofsame, the combination of a gas main, an incinerator, means for conveyingproducer gas from the main to the incinerator for preheating it, andmeans for preventingthe passage of further producer gas to theincinerator Without preventing the, passage of soot thereinto.

6. In apparatus for removing soot from gas mains and disposing of same,the combination of an incinerator, means for mtroduc ing the soot and alarge volume of air into the incinerator, and means for producing anintimate mixture between the soot and the air. 7

7 Apparatus for removing soot from gas mains and disposing of same whichincludes 7 the combination of a gas main, an incinera- V rtor aconnection between the main and the preheating the incinerator, checkerbrick for incinerator, means for expelling the soot from the gas main,means for introducing the soot-and a large volume of air into theincinerator, meansfor producing an intimate mixture between the soot andthe air, and means for heating the incinerator to promote the combustionof the soot and air.-

8. In apparatus for removing soot from gas mains and disposing of same,the combination of a gas main, an incinerator, a single means forcontinuously propelling the soot Which has collected in the gas maininto the incinerator and for introducing alarge volume of air thereinto,and a checker brick construction for storing up heat, slowing thepassage of soot and air through the incinerator and facilitating theirmixing and ignition. Y

9. In apparatus for eliminating soot, the combination of a gas main,from which soot is to be removed, anincinerator, means for absorbing theheat and giving it out at a latertime, a single means for continuouslyintroducing soot and air into the incinerator, and means forsimultaneously heating said soot and air to complete its combustion.

10. Apparatus for disposing ofsoot,'which comprises a producer gas main,a dust leg, means for moving the soot from'the gas main into the dustleg, an auxiliary furnace, means for heating the furnace, and meansadjacent to the dust leg for propelling the soot into the auxiliaryfurnace and putting it in suspension in a large volume of air.

WALTER W. OAKLEY.

